Copolymers comprising glycidyl methacrylates and short-chain acrylates—such as n-butyl acrylate, for example—are known from EP-A 1 316 597 These copolymers are suitable for example as adhesives.
Moreover it is known from Stärke 1998 vol. 50, no. 11-12, pages 484 to 486 that long-chain fatty acids interact with the helix structure of starch and lead to improved compatibility of the starch in a polymer matrix.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,984,694 describes the addition to polycondensates—such as polyesters, for example—of acrylic copolymers as chain extenders, which attach to the polyester by virtue of their high reactive comonomer content—glycidyl methacrylate being an example of such a comonomer. The comonomers, however, do not comprise long-chain acrylates. The addition of such compounds to polymer mixtures comprising polyesters and starch may—as shown in EP 1 656 423—raise the tensile strength of these systems, but the improvement in the properties is still not sufficient for a variety of extrusion applications.